Today we'll be discussing one of my favorite art forms and that would be the art of subtle yet impactful accessorizing.
Specifically within the context of fashion, clothing, self -expression.
I love all types of accessorizing.
I love accessorizing the home, accessorizing the car, accessorizing the computer, desktop.
Like the list goes on.
But if I were to have that conversation we'd be here for six to seven hours and I don't think either of us have time for that.
So today, we're just talking about accessorizing in fashion, in self -expression.
I love accessorizing just as much as I love clothing.
And I, in my brain, look at the two things as sort of separate.
They obviously come together to make a complete outfit, right?
But in my head, they're two separate art forms, in a way.
And some of you might disagree with me about that.
some of you might see that as sort of the same thing.
But, I don't know, to me, it's a different art form.
Like, getting dressed with actual garments, pants, skirts, dresses, jackets, whatever, actual, technical clothing items that are the base of the outfit, putting those together in a way that makes sense is its own art form to me.
It's the art form of sort of taking a silhouette of a pant or skirt and balancing it with a silhouette in a color or whatever of the top and, you know, paying attention to the textiles and what looks good together and, you know, creating sort of a color palette, like a base color palette, but I feel like the most important element of putting clothing pieces together is balancing the silhouettes together, making it look flattering together, you know.
and I think the art of accessorizing that base is its own separate sort of art form.
And maybe I'm just taking all of this too seriously, and maybe I sound pretentious and maybe you all hate me, but this is how I feel.
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I feel like recently, my mind has sort of expanded around what accessorizing is and can be, because I feel like for a long time when I thought of accessorizing I was like, well, you know, I'm just wearing a bag that matches the outfit and I'm just wearing a pair of socks that matches the outfit and I'm just wearing a belt that sort of matches the outfit or makes sense, I guess.
Like I thought of it in very simple terms and that is absolutely accessorizing.
And sometimes that's all the accessorizing that makes sense is sort of simple accessorizing.
But more recently, I feel like my mind has expanded to what accessorizing can truly be in fashion, like the potential for truly having fun with accessorizing, truly expressing yourself through accessorizing.
And it's inspired me today to share with you a few things.
Number one, some accessorizing advice.
Is the advice professional?
Of course not. It's me, silly.
It's unprofessional.
So take it with a grain of salt.
but I have learned a lot about accessorizing recently and I wanna share some of my learnings through advice.
I also wanna give you some accessory inspiration that goes beyond just like a purse that matches your outfit or like a belt that matches your outfit.
I want to give you some thought starters, some ideas for ways that you can accessorize that are a bit more interesting, a bit more unique to perhaps open your mind to what accessorizing can be when you truly think outside the box and have fun with it.
So without further ado, let's start with some accessorizing advice.
Okay, number one, take your time to find the perfect accessories for your collection.
Take your time and find ones that are strong.
Okay, I'll explain what strong means in a second.
To find strong accessories takes time, takes experimenting.
It's better to go on an extended hunt for the perfect accessories than to just cave and buy what's at a trendy store.
Because this is how you find accessories that number one are going to be a reliable source of a vibe.
So cringe but it's true.
This is how you're gonna find accessories that you'll gravitate to over and over again that will actually make an impact on your outfit not just sort of be like, oh, just like a non -interesting pair of glasses that you don't even really like but you just bought because you're like, well, these are trendy and they're the best ones I found, you know, at this trendy store and like, eh, it's fine.
You know? Or like, oh, you know, this is just like a standard belt, and like, it's, it doesn't really add much. It just is kind of there, but it holds my pants up, and it like adds a bit of dimension, I Like I think accessories are the most impactful when they're chosen really intentionally.
And I think, for a lot of us, accessories are sort of an afterthought.
And they're actually, honestly, like kind of a technical item, right?
Like we wear sunglasses to protect our eyes, we wear belts to hold up our pants, we wear socks to protect our feet from our shoes.
Like a lot of our accessories are actually functional.
So a lot of times they're afterthoughts and we just buy whatever makes, you know, whatever is in right in front of us, but there's an opportunity for no more money but just a little bit more time to make your accessories stronger, right?
So like what I mean by strong is there are certain accessories that I personally have in my closet that every time I wear them, the outfit becomes elevated times ten okay.
For example like I have this pair of sunglasses.
Black sunglasses. They're very simple okay but they're like wrapped in almost like this leathery material.
So they're like black sunglasses but they're wrapped in this sort of leathery material and they have like white stitching on the side and the shape is kind of sporty but like they're just super chic and super unique but they're just a black pair of sunglasses but they have a really cool material they're made with a really cool material.
The shape is super flattering on me like very very flattering always looks good and every time I wear them I just look chic.
Like I look very fashionable.
They're just a fashionable pair of black sunglasses and listen there are a bajillion pairs of black sunglasses out there but I can't tell you how many times I've been wearing an outfit and I've put those on and it's completed the vibe and like taken it to next level because they're a unique pair of glasses that not only are special because they're made out of a unique material and they have the stitching on the side.
They're unusual but they're also shaped so beautifully for my face and every single time I wear them, not only is it flattering but it also sort of gives this vibe of like fashion.
There's something very chic and very fashion about them and so it makes the outfit feel more fashion because the glasses are so chic that now the rest of my outfit reads even more chic because of those glasses another example would be like you're looking for like the perfect belt alright there's so many different belts out there and a lot of them are very similar instead of just buying the first one that you see at the mall go to like a cool vintage store instead and find Find one that has like, I don't know, like hand engraved, like little metal clasps or find one that is super worn in and comfortable
to wear. Find one that's in sort of a unique color, maybe that like actually does match the palette of your outfit, but it's in a unique color.
So now every time you add it to an outfit, you're adding another color, another dimension.
Like take your time to find something that will actually add intrigue and value and uniqueness to your outfit.
Instead of just finding something that's like, eh well this will do and I'm not really passionate about it and a lot of other people have it or whatever.
Not that it's wrong to have things that other people have, I have plenty of things that a lot of other people have. But I think when it comes to accessorizing there are infinite accessories out there.
There are so many options and there's a lot of opportunity to find things that are unique.
So take your time and do that because the impact of the perfect accessory that is flattering and unique, and perfectly picked out for you and your vibe and your personal sense of style, that is so much more impactful when you wear it than something that you just sort of got because it was trendy and it was in front of you.
So take your time to find the perfect accessories for your collection.
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My second piece of advice is to make it personalized.
I already sort of touched on this, but like let me really elaborate, okay.
Make it personalized.
Accessorizing is cool and makes an outfit more personalized in general.
But accessorizing with hyper personal stuff is even cooler.
It's taking accessorizing to the next level.
Let me give you some examples.
let's say your favorite movie is Harry Potter.
Let's say in the, I can't remember if Harry Potter actually like wore this or not.
I don't know. I don't remember, but like let's say in the movie Harry Potter wore a pair of maroon fingerless gloves.
It's like a subtle little Easter egg.
And you've been thinking like, oh I kinda want to get fingerless gloves for this winter.
You know, cause it's kind of nice.
Like and also kind of a cool look.
Maybe try to figure out like, oh, Harry Potter wore maroon fingerless gloves, I'm gonna get maroon fingerless gloves.
Okay, that's an example of making something hyper personal.
Another example would be like, let's say you wear the same belt every day.
Maybe you spice it up by like painting on it, or like putting stickers on it, or you know, like add a personal touch. Maybe you get a baseball cap, maybe you love wearing baseball caps.
Get a baseball cap custom made by a local artist or something, like you can find somebody like an artist to like custom paint or embroider a hat for you.
Or go on online and find like a vintage baseball cap from like your favorite movie ever or like for your favorite sports team, like make things as personalized as possible.
And the reason why I like this, the reason why this is a piece of advice is because number one, it's truly expressing yourself, which I think is something that, more recently, has been lost from accessorizing.
I feel like accessorizing has become very trend focused, like what are the trendy accessories?
You know, oh, it's a New York Yankees hat, even though half the people wearing the New York Yankees hat haven't been to New York and haven't ever watched baseball before.
You know what I'm saying?
Jane Belkening the bag, as we've talked about many many many times where you like add a bunch of charms to your bag, but you're not actually adding charms that mean anything to you.
You're just adding charms that you find found online for a few bucks, right?
And they're somewhat cute but they're not personal at all.
Accessorizing has become trendy, right?
And so we've lost the sense of self -expression in that.
wearing a baseball cap for the town that you grew up in, for the town that you vacationed in every summer as a kid, for your favorite movie, for your favorite sports team, wearing a tote bag for your favorite bookstore, painting on your belt or on your water bottle or whatever.
This is what accessorizing is.
It's about doing something that truly represents you as a person.
And listen, there are times when we're going to accessorize a bit more simply, maybe a bit more generic, and it still is an accurate representation of ourselves.
Like a good example would be, today, as I'm recording this, I'm wearing little striped fingerless gloves, because I just, for whatever reason, really love these striped fingerless gloves.
They remind me of Tim Burton movies, which I grew up watching and loving.
But they're like, so they are sort of somewhat personal in the sense that they remind me of something, but like from a technical standpoint, it's not like, like I think I got them from like Brandy Melville, like six years ago.
And like I didn't like buy them handmade from somebody that I love, in my neighborhood or something like.
They aren't an exact replica of the gloves that were in the movie Coraline from 2008.
Or whatever year Coraline came out, I should know that because it's my favorite movie.
But they remind me of that.
remind me of Coraline, they remind me of Tim Burton movies.
And I don't know I just I love them but they're not like the most personal item in the world I think there are probably many people who have these gloves and that's okay because they still feel personal to me in one way or another.
Anyway, going back to why I think this is important because I think what makes an accessory timeless is its personalization, is the fact that it's unique to you.
I mean obviously simple accessories like a plain black leather belt with silver hardware, that will never go out of style, ever.
That is a classic item and that's great.
But like what truly makes an accessory timeless is the fact that it's yours, it's your thing.
It's personal to you in one way or another.
Whether it's because you wear it all the time and it's your signature item or because it maybe was a hand -me -down from a loved one or it was something that was custom made or specifically selected because it represents something about you, whether it's something that you like or something that directly sort of represents your personality.
Whatever it may be.
That's what makes accessories timeless.
Accessories that you'll go back to time and time again if they mean something to you.
And again, it's such a shame that this is a lost art because I think when it comes to accessorizing across the board, fashion and otherwise, this is what makes accessories It's worth the purchase.
This is what makes having five purses instead of 10 purses satisfying.
This is what makes having two belts instead of 15 belts satisfying.
I know a lot of people are like, Emma, don't tell us about quality over quantity.
You have a lot of clothes.
Even after you donated 90 % of your closet, you still have a lot of clothes.
Yes, I know, but I've learned.
Let a girl learn, okay?
And this is what I've learned.
Okay, my next piece of advice, I already kind of touched on this a little bit, but I would recommend buying as many of your accessories as you can from places that sell things not on a trend cycle, okay?
So like, that would be like vintage stores, thrift stores, resale websites, right?
boutiques, like small handmade boutiques, artists who make hyper specific items online or again in boutiques, at flea markets.
When it comes to finding accessories, I think it can be obvious to us and easy to us to just go to like the places that we know to go to that make popular accessories, whether that's a designer brand who makes designer bags and designer belts or it's you know a popular trendy store that sells maybe more affordable bags and stuff and it's you know trendy and we know it's on trend because they're selling it and everything that they sell is on trend.
It can be tempting to go to these obvious places and sometimes these obvious places are exactly where we need to go.
I have quite a few mass -produced accessories right?
Like I have designer sunglasses, I have designer bags, I have you know even like the gloves I'm wearing today, I got from Brandy Melville like six years ago, right like I have accessories that are from you know these sort of more mass produced places and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that and sometimes that's just what makes sense.
However I would say try to find it elsewhere first and this is something that if I could go back in time and rebuild my wardrobe I would do more of, you know now I'm at a place where I'm okay, I have a lot of stuff.
And I would love to go find a handmade silver and black belt, but I got one from Aritzia, and it's great, and I like it, and I wear it a lot.
And it would be cool to have one that's handmade because I wear that all the time.
And if I ever find one that I love that's handmade or vintage or unique or something, I'll go and I'll get that because I would prefer to have that, but in the meantime, and possibly even forever because maybe I'll never find it feels justified to like, I already have a silver and black belt, I don't need to go buy a new one.
You know what I mean?
Unless one was like perfect and spoke to me and I was like I absolutely need this, I'm not going to go buy a new one for the sake of buying a new one, right?
But if I could go back in time, I would have waited and spent time finding the perfect black and silver belt because that's a piece I wear all the time and it would be awesome if it had personality to it, if it was custom.
Maybe one day I'll somehow figure out a way to decorate it in a way that makes sense, to make it more personalized.
But yeah, if I could go back in time, that's something that I would focus more on, is where I'm actually sourcing the stuff.
And again, it doesn't mean more expensive.
It doesn't mean more expensive.
It just means more time.
It just takes more time and a bit more hunting, if you will.
Which I think if you're somebody who's into fashion is exciting.
Like I love the hunt Right, like recently the weather started to get warmer and I had to donate majority, actually all of my jean shorts because a lot of them either were too small for my liking.
I like a baggier jean short.
They were either too tight or you know they just weren't in a style that I wear anymore so I donated all of my denim shorts and I was so excited to find a new pair.
not find like 30 pairs like what i used to have which was completely excessive but i was excited to find the perfect pair that was timeless that i'm gonna wear for the next 10 years but it took so long.
It took so long and there were many times i was like ah these are fine i guess but i waited and i eventually found the perfect pair of shorts and i'm so happy that i did it was fun too like if you look at it as fun and you look at it as a hunt it makes it fun.
Next Next piece of advice, think outside the box when it comes to accessorizing, okay?
A lot of us think of accessorizing and we think of the standard. We think of sunglasses, belt, purse, bag.
There's so much more to accessorizing than just that, okay?
Anything that is on our body can be an accessory, okay?
That means the cup, like the insulated cup that we carry around, our laptop that we constantly we carry around, our headphones that we're always wearing, our lunch bag that we carry our lunch in, our nails, what we get on our nails.
I try to think of everything as an accessory, and there are some things that I just personally don't care about being an accessory.
For example, my Stanley Cup.
Okay, my Stanley Cup is very standard. It's just a fucking Stanley Cup.
It is what it is. I haven't found a way to decorate it that inspired me it just hasn't called to me I just don't care, however my laptop I decided to paint on my laptop is something that I'm constantly carrying around that people constantly see me with.
I mean not I guess constantly but like if I'm at the airport working on my computer if I'm at a meeting working on my computer if I go to a cafe to work which doesn't happen as often anymore, but still every once in a while I'll do that my laptop is an accessory It can be an accessory which is why I painted it which some people think is crazy like, actually crazy and idiotic, but I had this idea.
I was like, I want to paint my laptop, so I got acrylic paint and I painted the top of the laptop white and then on the Apple logo, I painted a realistic looking Apple.
When I first did it, people in my life were like, you are a freak, like why would you do that?
I'm obsessed with it, okay, I think it looks incredible.
I think it looks incredible.
It looks so cool, it's so personalized.
Yes, I painted directly onto the laptop.
I could have just painted like on a case, no. I decided to paint on the laptop, which was a little bit crazy.
Again, it's like kind of dumb in retrospect.
Actually, it's not though.
My laptop has been painted for like many months, I'm not sick of it.
Every time I look at it, it brings me joy, and it feels like this little accessory.
I have no regrets. I have no regrets.
But if you're not feeling that courageous, put a case on your laptop and paint it.
Now your laptop is an accessory.
Think outside of the box, think about all the different ways that you can accessorize.
It doesn't just need to be a pair of socks and a belt and a purse that match the rest of your outfit, you know what I mean?
And there's so much more that it can be.
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Now, back to the episode.
My next piece of advice, let your accessories complete the sentence that your outfit is trying to say.
Okay. It's almost like your outfit is half of a sentence.
It's like the first half of the sentence.
And then the accessories are like the conclusion, are like the ultimate point.
So like, let's say what your outfit is trying to say is I make music, okay?
Like let's say you're styling yourself in a way where you're like, I want to look like a rockstar, fuck it.
I make music, okay?
Let's say that is what you want your outfit to say.
Sounds cringe but that is, that's sometimes how we style ourselves, right?
Or maybe you want your outfit to say like I watch a lot of movies.
like I'm a movie nerd. It's almost like the clothing that you put on, the shirt, the pants, is the first half of the sentence.
So in the I make music example, it's almost like the clothes that you choose, the pants is the I make part.
Okay, the clothing that you put on, the shapes that you choose, whether or not the clothing is worn in or it has paint on it, or it's ripped up, or a lot of times if you're dressing to be like, I'm a rock star, look at me, I'm a rock star, you know, you're wearing like maybe ripped up stuff or you're wearing leather and like that sort of paints the picture like I make.
I'm a creative person the clothing is like I'm a creative person.
And then the sentence is completed I make music when you add big fucking diva sunglasses you know what I mean?
Like badass sunglasses and a belt like a sick retro like rock star belt and like a really cool vest, that has like a music note on it.
No I'm kidding, that's a little bit too on the nose, but you get what I'm saying here?
Like it's almost like the conclusion is given by the accessories.
And then it's the same thing with the other example like I'm a movie nerd. If that's what your outfit is saying right?
Like maybe your outfit looks very like, you like to dress like Wes Anderson movies because you love movies.
Like you dress very almost theatrical in a way or whatever.
wearing like beautiful brown pants and like a beautiful brown boot and wearing like a, you know, bright yellow blouse maybe tucked in.
That could potentially paint the picture of like I'm a movie because you look, you know, you're wearing these bright colors, you almost look like a character, right?
But then I'm a movie nerd comes in when you really turn that thing into a costume.
And maybe you're a little nerdy.
Maybe you're wearing like little nerdy glasses and you know, you're wearing like this green belt and it is making your shirt super tucked in and tight And I don't know, maybe this doesn't make sense to anyone else, but the accessories complete the sentence.
They create this full, well -rounded image, sentence, message, that is what accessories are for, they're for completing the sentence.
So, when it comes to figuring out, okay how do I accessorize this outfit?
Figure out what the vibe is, what are you trying to say with the outfit?
it." And then that can help guide what accessories to choose, because then you're like, all right, I'm trying to choose the accessories that complete this sentence.
This method that I'm describing to you right now might not make any fucking sense to you.
You might be like, Emma, that is some of the weirdest, most abstract bullshit I've ever heard in my life.
Fair enough. Okay. But try to find value in that through like figuring out a sort of formula.
You know what I mean?
That's the formula that sense to me like you know sometimes I want to dress like a vampire.
I want to look like a vampire's daughter you know what I mean.
I want to look like a vampire's wife.
Those are two very different things okay.
So like my clothes that I pick out might be like I want to look like a vampire.
It's like I'm wearing all black, maybe with some pops of maroon or whatever.
You know maybe I'm wearing sort of like gothic sort of silhouettes or something or like whatever and then I wanna look like a vampire's wife.
Okay, maybe I'm adding like, black lace tights.
Or I'm adding, maybe I have long, sort of gothic -looking nails that are red.
It's like that all adds to this vibe of the vampire's wife.
That's how I build an outfit in my head is I'm like, there's some sort of vague vision.
And it's not necessarily on the nose, but it's like, it's saying something.
And so basically, this is the most cringe thing that I've ever explained in my life so I need to move on.
But take this with a grain of salt.
Let your accessories complete the sentence that your outfit is trying to say.
Do it that way you will.
Let's move on. My next piece of advice.
Use accessories to balance colors and tie things together.
The right accessory can make two things that normally wouldn't make sense together, make sense together, you know.
And so use that to your advantage.
If you're getting dressed, right, and listen, everybody builds outfits differently.
like, some people start with accessories or like, oh, I really want to wear this accessory today.
I'm gonna build an outfit around it.
Some people are like, okay, I'm gonna put on my base first and then accessorize from there.
You know, everybody's a little bit different.
So it's kind of hard to give advice about it, but a lot of times I will start with sort of the base and I accessorize to pull things together later.
I'll be like, I really like the idea of, like, wearing this top with this bottom, right?
Like this feels interesting to me, But, a lot of times, two things that I want to put together don't actually look good together just by themselves, right?
They make sense together, but only when knowing that I'm about to accessorize later, to make it all make sense.
And there are many different ways that you can use accessories to like truly make the outfit feel cohesive and complete and make it make sense, Whether that's through being mindful about color palette, either, you know, balancing out colors by saying, okay, well I'm wearing a white shirt and I'm wearing a black skirt, you know it'd be kind of nice to bring the black up to my eyes.
So I'll wear black sunglasses.
But, I also feel like it needs kind of a pop of color so, maybe I'll add a pop of color with the socks.
Eh, I don't really like that.
It doesn't feel balanced when I look at it.
Maybe I'll add a red hat.
Okay great, that looks great.
okay, now, you know, when it comes to the shoes, like, I'm wearing black shoes, so then maybe I should wear a white sock, because then it's like white, black, white, black, like that feels balanced to me, and then there's the pop of red, I really like that, okay great, moving on with our day.
You know, you use accessories to balance out the colors.
Or perhaps, you know, you have sort of an earthtone look going, maybe you have like a beige top, and like mint green bottoms, and like brown shoes.
Well maybe you can sort of create an outfit wear it's just a bunch of different earth tones, a bunch of different, slightly different earth tones.
So then maybe you add like an orangey rusty, you know grayish color for your socks and then maybe you add like a piece of jewelry that has a bunch of beautiful stones that are a bunch of different earth tones.
And now your whole outfit is this beautiful collage of a bunch of different earth tones that feels cohesive.
And even though you're wearing a bunch of different colors, it feels cohesive because you know that is the theme of the outfit.
You're wearing a bunch of different earth tones.
Whereas if you were to just be wearing a beige top in mint green pants and brown shoes, it's like, okay, but now if you add another dimension with the sock and another dimension with the jewelry and maybe you add a pair of glasses that are another earth tone and then a bag that's another earth tone and it's just this sort of like beautiful palette all over the place, now it feels intentional.
Because you've made the choice to choose this color palette but not quite the same color twice so many different times and now it feels like it makes sense.
But, also, too, something that I pay close attention to when I'm accessorizing, that might seem like overkill to some of you, but to me is something that I really find important when it comes to building an outfit, is textures, like paying attention to textures and balancing out textures.
For example, if I'm wearing shiny black shoes with an outfit and I'm trying to choose what pair of sunglasses to wear?
A lot of times I'm gonna choose my shiny black pair of glasses rather than my more matte material pair of glasses.
Or if I am wearing really like thick knit socks, right, I might say, oh, wait, I have like a thick knit, you know, little headscarf sort of thing.
Maybe I'll throw that around my neck or tie it around my belt loop or something.
Like I try to create themes with textures as well.
And this doesn't always make sense, but I do pay attention to it because I think it's a subtle detail that can really make an outfit feel cohesive.
My next piece of advice, be intuitive.
Add where you feel there's an empty space.
Don't just make decisions based on what you've seen on Pinterest or what you've seen in fashion books.
I think accessorizing needs to be intuitive and it needs to be determined by you in the moment based on what exactly is being worn by you.
There are so many different variables that impact the way that an outfit reads on you as an individual.
What is the daily jewelry that you wear?
How do you style your hair?
What color is your hair?
What color are your nails?
How do you get your nails done?
Do you not get your nails done?
What do you have in your wardrobe?
What do you even have available to you.
All of these different things impact how you're able to accessorize and I think that's why I don't personally always love the method of like, on Pinterest or whatever, I saw somebody wear a skirt and then they put another skirt on top of it to accessorize it sort of, and it looked really good.
And then they also wore a bikini top over top of their tank top to add some dimension, like that might look cool, that might work.
And you can try it if you really want.
You know what I mean?
But I always recommend being intuitive.
Like try to be intuitive with it.
Look at your outfit and see what it needs.
Listen, I think it's fun to experiment, and if you see something that you like, I absolutely am all for like, being like, okay today I really want to try this sort of accessorizing technique or something, right?
Like I really wanna try it.
Okay, great. Then, that's how you start your outfit.
But if you're taking an outfit and you're like, all right, what accessories do I add to this?
In those moments, I think if it feels intuitive like, oh, I saw somebody do that thing on Pinterest. I'm going to try that.
Great. If it feels intuitive and it feels like that's what the outfit needs and you're looking in the mirror and you're like, oh, there's like a blank space here that feels empty like it needs something, it would benefit from something then add it.
But don't just add it because you see other people doing it.
Does that make sense?
Be intuitive with the accessorizing.
And try stuff. Try a bunch of stuff.
You know, try things on.
It doesn't look good.
Try the next thing.
We can only see so much in our imagination.
I think a lot of times we have to try things on and experiment to truly figure out what actually makes sense for an outfit.
And my last piece of advice, at least that I can think of right now, your accessories need to either be functional or not noticeable to you physically.
Or else they're not a good accessory, okay.
accessories should never be getting in your way, right.
Like a scarf that's itchy, a belt that's super huge and rides up and is super uncomfortable and doesn't fit in your belt loops.
Super heavy earrings that are hurting your ears.
Nails that are too long to function.
These are not good accessories, right.
Like painting on your laptop and then not using the right kind of paint and it chipping off.
Like these are all not good accessories.
This is not good ways of accessorizing.
Accessorizing should either be fully functional, like it is helping, it's a belt that's holding up your pants, it's a pair of socks that are keeping you warm, it's a scarf that actually keeps you warm, it's actually a functional accessory, or it's something you don't even notice.
Like oh, I put a little pin on my shirt, or I put on a cute little watch, but I don't even feel it on my wrist, or I ironed on a patch onto my favorite hat.
Like accessories should either be not noticeable, you barely even realize that they're there, or they actually serve a purpose.
Otherwise it's a bad accessory.
If you really love a scarf, and you want to buy it because you think it looks so cute but it's itchy, that is a bad accessory.
Just because it's cute, just because it's like whatever, accessorizing is more than just like, oh, this looks cute and ties my outfit all together.
No, it should also be functional and comfortable.
Otherwise, it is a bad accessory.
So keep that in mind, when shopping for accessories and also getting dressed in the morning.
If there's an accessory in your closet that you don't gravitate towards, you don't choose because it's uncomfortable, it gets in the way, it's frustrating.
A great example would be even sunglasses that are uncomfortable.
That's the risk of buying sunglasses online.
I do it, I've done it and it's worked out well before but it's also worked out terribly because sunglasses need to fit your head and if they don't fit your head properly, well that's a problem.
They're either too tight or they're too loose and falling off, you're not gonna wear those.
So that's a bad accessory.
Even if they look cute.
Accessories need to be comfortable.
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Season one of Andor had critics calling it the best star war series yet.
Now season two of the Emmy nominated series returns April 22nd.
You may follow Kassian Andor as he embarks on a path from a rebel to a hero.
Starring Diego Luna and from creator Tony Gilroy, writer of Michael Clayton and The Bourne Identity.
Season two of Andor is streaming April 22nd, only on Disney Plus.
Now that I've given you some advice, let me give you some thought starters, some suggestions, some ideas.
And I'm not giving you these suggestions, thought starters, ideas with the hope that you go out and buy them immediately.
You know what I'm saying like, that's not what I'm trying to do here okay?
Because as I mentioned earlier, accessorizing should be as personal as possible.
So look at this more as just inspiration, you know, truly look at this as a thought starter.
Like let these ideas inspire you to come up with your own idea.
Or hear one of these suggestions and find a version of it that's uniquely you.
That is the purpose of this.
Okay? So let's begin.
Number one, I'm absolutely obsessed with pins and buttons in patches right now, but more specifically I actually bought a pin maker so that I could make my own pins, like fully like a pin maker, or a button.
A button maker, actually.
You know what? It is a button, isn't it?
A pin is something else.
Okay, I bought a button maker so that I could make personalized buttons that I could wear with my outfits, because I was having a hard time finding buttons that I liked.
I found a few good ones online from people who make them but they weren't personalized enough.
I was like, I want really personalized buttons and anyway, I bought a button maker so that I could make my own buttons, but I'm also going to continue searching for cool vintage ones online, on eBay, like finding cool weird ones as time goes on, but I also want to make my own.
But I think personal little pins, buttons, patches, these types of things that you can adhere to existing items and add a little pop of color, add a bit of personality.
It can be super impactful.
And you can like put like a name patch on something.
Like you could order a bunch of like custom patches that all have your name on it.
And like, I don't know, put them on your favorite belt and like glue it onto your water bottle and glue it onto your laptop and like put it on one of your basic black shirts that is kind of boring that you don't really like, you know what I mean?
There's so many different ways that you can use pins, buttons, patches, these types of things to add a lot of dimension and character to an outfit or to a piece of clothing.
I also think a great area to experiment when it comes to accessorizing is in glasses.
I've noticed that a really bold pair of glasses is something that I will rewear over and over again, rather than a really bold piece of clothing.
Like a statement piece of clothing, like a sweater that has a really loud pattern on it and has a quote on it and there's all this stuff going on, that I'm less gravitated towards over and over again.
A really bold pair of glasses with a bold shape is something that I'll wear over and over and over again and I'm constantly drawn to it.
In addition to that, I find that a really strong pair of glasses that are really stylized and really loud and really make a statement really, really heavily impact the vibe of an outfit.
For example, I have a pair of sort of black shield glasses.
Like shield, they're huge.
They cover half of my face.
In fact, I actually lost them for a year and a half and I had been trying to find them and I could not find them and then I saw online that they were on sale and I was like fuck it, I'm buying another pair because I loved this pair of glasses so much and I used to wear them so often and I lost them and I was so sad and I thought I would find them and I never did and so then I ordered them again when they were on sale.
Anyway, they're like huge black shield glasses.
Every time I wear those it's like whoa, she is a badass.
She's a fashion freak, badass.
Look at that freak.
You know what I mean?
It just reads creepy and weird and alien and cool and badass and scary and creepy and futuristic but also like motorcycle but also like not motorcycle but also like alien but also like cool.
It's great. But they're definitely extreme.
It's like a bold choice.
But I wear those glasses all the time.
I constantly gravitate towards those glasses because they make such a statement and they you make such a difference, they make such a difference in my outfit that I actually choose those more than maybe more versatile, more simple glasses, because those just don't have as much of an impact.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I feel like you can be a bit more edgy, a bit more experimental with your accessories than maybe you can with your clothing because I think with your clothing, more experimental stuff tends to be less comfortable, tends to be more fatiguing and exhausting, and it tends to, I don't know, just not work out as well I guess.
That's my experience anyway.
So my closet is definitely a bit less experimental, it's a lot of basics that I can layer together in different ways and then where the personality and intrigue really comes out for me tends to be in the accessories in the way that I layer things and stuff like that.
I also suggest finding weird random shit that's kind of a little bit silly.
Some of my favorite accessories are in this sort of category.
For example, I have this purse that has a banana on it, and I actually have another purse from the same brand that has a carrot on it, like a 3D banana, a 3D carrot, like sticking out the front of the bag.
And it's funny because I think this bag was so ...
It kind of was like ...
I think it had kind of like a Pinterest moment.
A lot of people saw it.
It was like kind of a popular thing for a second there.
And it's something that I actually think is technically sort of trendy because it's so eye -catching and it's so sort of humorous.
But it's something that, to me, I genuinely love so much and I love the concept and I love it so much that, to me, it's actually timeless.
Or it's not even necessarily timeless but it's something that, even though maybe it had its moment a few, a year ago and it was more trendy then, I still love it because I think it's funny and I think it's interesting and I continue to wear it.
Anyway, that was sort of a side note.
I love taking something as simple as a black bag and putting a banana or a carrot on the front of it.
A 3 -D one, that looks real.
And now it's something different.
Now it's something more intriguing.
Now it's a conversation starter.
I think that that's great.
I also recently bought online this like, it's so, well not recently, a few months ago I bought this handmade scarf that looks like a beautiful white mouse or white rat and it has, like, little, uh, red eyes, it is so cute and it is so weird. But it's so cute.
I love that thing. I absolutely love it, it's one of my favorite things that I own.
It's so weird, but it actually looks cute, like, I can style it in a cute way and it's functional and it keeps my neck warm and it's great, you know what I mean?
You know, I love buying, like, little buttons and pins, like I mentioned earlier, or even making little buttons and pins that are weird, that say something weird on them, let's say something funny that infused some humor into my outfit.
Try to find ways to perhaps infuse humor into your outfit.
Infuse weirdness into your outfit through accessories.
I think that you'll find that that's a lot of fun.
Oh my God, I just remembered one I used to have like this rubber chicken bag.
It was like a bag that looked like a rubber chicken.
That's another great example.
Like it's fun. To some people, it might be corny, it might be cringe.
It's not everyone's cup of tea, right?
But it's a suggestion that I think is worth considering.
I sort of mentioned this earlier, but decorate your average items. Everything can be an accessory, your phone, your laptop, your water bottle, the belt that you wear every day.
Find ways to accessorize items that are normally just bleh.
Paint your laptop. Paint your phone.
Put stickers all over your computer.
Put stickers all over your phone.
Put stickers on your belt.
Find different ways to personalize normally mundane items. And I think it's fun to do it DIY because you're the only one who's gonna have it.
That's really special and really cool.
And I don't know, it's fun.
It's fun to put your own little stamp on something.
And it's fun to think of everything as an accessory because it gives you a more intimate relationship with the things that you carry with you on a daily basis, you know, or on a consistent basis.
It makes everything feel artistic, like art in a way, like it makes your laptop feel like art.
It makes your phone, your water bottle, your lunch box, your book bag.
It makes everything feel like art, interesting, like a form of self -expression and that's fun.
That can be fun. So decorate your average items. Another suggestion, random, but fingerless gloves, lace gloves, thin like mesh gloves, gloves that are a little bit unusual like obviously when it's wintertime you know we are all well aware of a glove or a mitten you know this is we are no stranger to this but I think we tend to forget that there are other types of gloves you can buy for example lace gloves that adds so much texture and dimension to an outfit without actually adding warmth you could wear that in the spring or summer and it would look so cool and so interesting, but you're not overheating.
Gloves, maybe more avant -garde gloves can be a great way to accessorize that you wouldn't normally think of.
In fact, I actually have been trying to get more into the glove.
I love a fingerless glove.
I've been wearing them for a few years now, but I'm kind of keeping my eye out for other types of gloves that could potentially be interesting to add to my collection.
next a little beret hat like a little French beret you know or like a little cap like a little not necessarily a French beret but like any sort of little cap.
I absolutely love a little like cap you know like a little felt hat like something that isn't even quite as stylized as like a French beret but like there are so many different types of little caps that you can wear that are elevated unlike maybe something like a baseball cap that's a little bit less elevated like we tend to overlook what hats can be and I absolutely love like a little cap.
I hope that I'm like explaining that well I have a few of them but that's a great idea that makes things feel she can sort of classy in a very like you know easy sort of way just throwing on a little cap like a little beret a little cap can really change the whole feeling of an outfit and it's just a little hat.
It's one of the few hats that I think are timeless.
A lot of hats are not timeless.
I don't know, like a cowboy hat?
No. Unless you are a cowboy.
Unless you do rodeos and stuff.
I don't know. A cowboy hat is not timeless to me.
But a beret? Absolutely.
Another suggestion, balaclava, detached hood bonnet.
Some sort of headwear in that realm.
I have a few of these now, and I absolutely love wearing them.
Anytime I can, anytime it's cool enough out to wear some sort of headpiece, I'm going to try to wear some sort of headpiece.
In fact, I also would like to collect more of these over the years because I really do think that they can pack a punch when it comes to changing the vibe of an outfit.
adding accessories to the head in this way it's trendy it's definitely trendy but I actually think it's timeless like I think you can't go wrong with unique head wear whether you know it's something lighter made of perhaps lace or mesh with embroidery on it or you know it's like a knit and it has like little fuzzy ears like I have a little fuzzy knit cat ear sort of bonnet almost kind of like a balaclava but it doesn't cover the mouth so I don't really know that's called, it's kind of like a detached hood almost. I get compliments every time I wear that thing because everybody's always like, whoa,
that's so cool. Like it completely changes the tone of the outfit.
And I think we tend to overlook head pieces that are not hats.
And a lot of us don't like hats.
So think outside the box when it comes to accessorizing your head and think of a bonnet or a detached hood or perhaps a balaclava.
I think a lot of us too tend to look at socks as like, okay, I'm just wearing a sock.
Like I'm wearing white sock.
I'm wearing a black sock.
Add a pop of color.
Add a pop of texture." Socks can be an incredible, incredible accessory.
The length of sock can be an accessory.
Is it up to the knee?
Is it up to the thigh?
Is it scrunched? Is it pulled tight?
All of these different things.
Socks are not to be ignored.
A good sock can change everything.
The right sock can really pull everything together, which leads me to interesting tights, tightness, whether you choose an interesting color or an interesting texture.
Tights can be utilized in many different interesting ways.
You can wear tights under ripped pants and have the tights show through.
That's an interesting thing you could do.
Or you could wear tights and wear socks over it perhaps.
So now you have like, your leg is one texture, but then you also have another texture of the sock and there's this layering happening.
that could be very intriguing.
Tights aren't just for, I guess, keeping your legs warm during the winter.
You can utilize tights as another texture and it can be really fun.
And there are a lot of interesting tights out there like think outside the box.
There aren't just neutral tights.
There are very many interesting tights out there.
Also like thin little scarves that you can tie around your neck or head or around your pants or to your bag, having a little piece of fabric that you can tie on to things, whether it is on more traditional locations like your neck or your head, but could also be tied on to less traditional locations like your bag or your belt loop or whatever.
This is a very fun and simple way to add a pop of color or add a bit of texture to an outfit in a way that is virtually not even noticeable to you and can sometimes be functional if you're keeping your ears warm or your neck warm but can also just be like a, almost like a hack of like how to add a pop of color or a pop of texture.
Also an idea that I had recently that I haven't actually tried yet because I haven't found any of these things really, thrifted slash repurposed utilitarian items okay, like a thrifted tool belt or gardening gloves or chef waist apron or whatever, you can use these things as fashionable pieces And they're also useful.
gardening gloves can sometimes be really cool.
They can have yellow rubber on them and actually look cool.
Wear them as winter gloves one year if it's not that cold.
If it's obviously super cold, you need something a bit warmer.
But you get the idea.
Take a vintage chef apron, like waist apron, and cut it so it's maybe a bit more skirt -like and layer that over top clothes.
like, get creative with, you know, finding functional accessories.
Perhaps even repurposing these sort of utilitarian workwear items that there's a plethora of in the thrift stores that aren't really being used because a lot of chefs or whatever or people who were like they donated the stuff for a reason because it's not a fully functional anymore.
Well, you can repurpose it and use it as more of a fashion moment.
Another idea add charms stuff.
Collect cool charms, make charms yourself.
I don't care. Charms, add them to your earrings, add them to your belt loops, add them onto your bag, clip them onto stuff.
Charms, but make them personal.
Okay, make them personal.
Hyper specific items that make sense for you.
Okay, like for almost a comical level of convenience, like for example if you always lose your house key, make a necklace with like a cool ribbon and tie it around your neck, and have your key on your neck all the time that looks cool actually or like if you smoke cigarettes you shouldn't but like I don't know have like a little lighter keychain or something like do you get what I'm saying if you constantly have toothpicks in your mouth find like a little toothpick carrier that you can like attach to your bag.
Do you know what I'm saying?
Like hyper specific items that make sense for you and your specific lifestyle and like what you would actually need to have available what you would actually want to have conveniently placed, think outside the box with it.
Truly think about your life and your daily routine and find a way to accessorize it.
Does that make sense?
Find a way to turn that into an accessory.
Even if you like write with pens a lot, like maybe you start buying cool pens that you actually like want to show off and clip them to your bag or clip them to a collared shirt or like find a way to accessorize your routine, make your routine and accessory.
That And last but not least clothing toppers.
I don't know if that's actually like a real term, but I'm actually wearing one right now.
There's various different things that you can like throw on top of an outfit that couldn't be worn on their own, but are pieces that you can routinely throw over different things and they're either mesh or they're lace or they're like a vest that's like open or they're like a waist belt like a utilitarian sort of waist belt or whatever.
These types of toppers that you can throw on top of outfits that add dimension, add texture, add character, but are not like pieces of clothing themselves.
But that also can be worn in a trillion different ways and kind of read differently depending on what they're paired with.
These sorts of toppers, they're not things that you necessarily come across all the time, but every once in awhile you do.
And I think they're great accessories and they're bordering on clothing, but they are or to me they're accessories because you couldn't wear them by themselves.
You'd have some sort of genitalia revealed which is not ideal.
You know even like having like a sheer lace skirt that's like completely sheer that you could like throw over other things these sorts of toppers layering pieces I think are also incredible accessories that read differently.
They're like very versatile in the sense that you can wear them with so many different things and they read differently every time but you know they're not clothing because you can't them alone.
You guys, to be honest, I have to go.
I have to go because I have to go to yoga right now.
I have a yoga class in 20 minutes and I actually don't know if I'm gonna make it to the class.
If I don't do this yoga class, I'm gonna be grumpy for the rest of the day, so I love you all.
I appreciate you all.
Thank you all for listening to this episode.
It's always a pleasure getting to speak to you and hang out with you.
Anything goes every Thursday and Sunday anywhere you stream podcast, videos on YouTube and Spotify.
I'm on social media at Emma Chamberlain.
You can find my coffee company at ChamberlainCoffee .com or at Chamberlain Coffee.
More information on those websites and social media locations.
I love you all. I appreciate you all.
You're the best. And I'm going to go to yoga now.
It's kind of pathetic that I'm like, you guys, I have to go to yoga.
Oh my God. It's very L .A.
of me. Okay, I love you all.
And I'll talk to you soon.
Okay, bye.
